Alice Walker's Everyday Use

A detailed Summary of Alice Walker's Everyday Use


Alice Walker's life as an African-American novelist and poet has led to many award winning short-stories and books. She was raised in the southern state of Georgia and her parents were sharecroppers. This taught her that being an African-American

can have its rough times. After being shot by a BB gun when she was eight, Alice remained blinded in one eye. Her ailment caused her to seclude herself from other children her age. Alice's feeling of being older than she was shows in her writing of the short story "Everyday Use".

One of the story's main character's, Maggie, is a direct relation to the beginning of Alice Walker's life. Maggie, though we don't know her exact age, appears to be a young woman. The story tells of her past as though Alice Walker was telling a slightly altered version of her own life up to that point. Maggie was burned in a fire that was, though never proven, thought to be set by an older sibling. After the fire, Maggie walked "chin on chest, eyes on ground, feet in shuffle", ashamed of her looks (Perrine 91). In relation, Alice's older sibling shot her in the eye. This blinded her and made her feel like

she was unpleasant to look at. She secluded herself and felt asha


In a world where many African Americans say they are in touch with their heritage and claim to be a part of only the popular tribes in African history, majority of them do not have any idea about where they came from. Alice Walker's, "Everyday Use" shows

background and uses this to write numerous wonderful literary works.

put to everyday use. The opposing character in the story, Dee, only asks for the quilts to hang them and display them as a piece of her heritage. Alice shows both girls opinions to prove that either of the girls could be right. Dee could try to preserve her heritage, if she actually cared about it, by hanging the quilts. However, Maggie has

the bitterness Alice has for the great number of black people, and any other race, who just joins on the bandwagon because it sounds good and will probably get them some kind of benefit. Only those people who take the time to research their actual roots, are the ones who, in my opinion, can claim any positive connection to their heritage. Those that are only guessing, or someone who has heard it from a family member and taken it for truth, do not have the proof required to be considered a part of that background. Al

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Approximate Word count = 803
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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